In the car, I had been so distracted by Lesly playing with her treasure before my eyes, that I forgot to give her the plaster I had with me in case she forgot to cover up the hickey again.
Later, besides having my new bait laid out, I hadn't thought of chancing on some crazy bitch confronting my stepmother, as if the former had any saying in my life.
Still, her answers were something I had to let sink in, repeating them soundlessly to taste, and internalize them.
"Who is Jude?"
"Kid. I am too old for him; don't worry."
"It's not; it is from my husband."
Even after I put the plaster on her, and while knowing all too well that her first answer was just feigned ignorance, the taste of these words made my agitation, the feeling I meanwhile sought out willingly because only she could let me feel it, turn into a dangerous direction.